Saudi Arabia and 13 nations formed a maritime coalition in Riyadh to guard the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden amid Houthi blockades.
Saudi Arabia and 13 other countries signed a joint statement in Riyadh on Thursday to establish a multinational defensive maritime coalition guarding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as the Iran-aligned Houthis continue a naval blockade against the kingdom and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to commercial shipping.
Fourteen Signatories, 43 Nations At The Table
The Saudi Ministry of Defense named the signatories as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia. Military chiefs of staff and representatives from 43 countries, along with a European Union delegation, attended the Riyadh meeting in person or by video link to review the coalition’s draft charter.
Riyadh To Host Command Structure
Saudi Arabia will serve as the coalition’s founding nation and host its headquarters in the kingdom, according to the ministry’s statement. The framework includes a joint command and leadership structure, a joint operations control centre, and a general secretariat. The ministry said the door remains open for any additional country to join once it completes its own domestic accession procedures.
The statement described the alliance as strictly defensive, saying it does not target any state or organisation and that all activity will operate within international law and each member’s national sovereignty. Objectives listed include protecting freedom of navigation, securing international trade routes and energy shipments through Bab el-Mandeb, and coordinating intelligence, information sharing and joint naval exercises among members.
The initiative follows a visit by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to the United States, where officials discussed regional security, including attacks on Saudi infrastructure tied to the Houthis and Iran-aligned groups in Iraq.
Blockade Declared Since July 20
The Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on July 20, accusing Riyadh of besieging Yemen, a claim that Saudi officials have denied. The group has since attacked Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has responded with air strikes on Houthi facilities at Yemen’s Hodeidah port, which it says are used to threaten commercial shipping.
Hormuz Shut Since March, Ten Ships A Day
The coalition proposal lands on top of a separate crisis at the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed to commercial traffic since March 2, when Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed the closure during the wider US-Israel-Iran conflict. Tanker transits through Hormuz fell to 10 ships on July 23, against a pre-crisis baseline of roughly 88 a day, according to shipping tracker PortWatch. Brent crude stood near $90 a barrel on July 29.
